Shoaib Akhtar blog on IPL Zaheer Khan Gautam Gambhir Indian Premier League

Islamabad: Hello friends. Hope there is peace in your lives. Well, from now on we’ll be meeting here as well besides my regular shows on ABP News. I hope we can have some fun and some serious chat in the days, weeks and months to come. I have been home since the end of the ICC T20 World Cup. It has been a welcome break as since my knee surgery in January early this year I hardly got any time to rest. My friends in India tell me that the weather has been pretty hot there, especially in places near Delhi. I live in Islamabad and must say that it is extremely pleasant even at this time. The mid-30s temperatures are easy to bear. We are also fortunate that we keep getting passing showers as Islamabad is surrounded by hills. The rain drops only add to the scenic beauty of my home city. What rains also did was to provide another reason for a healthy round of tea and pakoras as I settled in front of TV to watch Indian Premier League, 2016. In Pakistan we get it on Geo Super Channel. I must say that I have already witnessed some amazing brand of cricket this season. Virat Kohli continues to raise the bar for himself and matches it time and again. Both his hundreds this season were outstanding. The best part about his batting is his still head. He may be hitting the most forceful stroke but he never loses his shape. I also like the fact that he plays all round the wicket with minimum of risky strokes. Everyone has been raving about the role of leg-spinners this season and I couldn’t agree more. I think Amit Mishra of Delhi Daredevils is one of the most under-rated bowlers in Indian cricket. It is tough for me to pin point one reason as to why he doesn’t feature consistently in the Indian team. But personally I’d like to see him given a more considerate look in. Even in this slam-bang T20 format he is in the top-10 best bowlers and his economy rate of 7.30 is sixth best overall amongst the bowlers who have picked a minimum of 8 wickets. It is a tribute to Mishra’s confidence in his own ability. He is never afraid to experiment while keeping good control on his leg-spinners. I loved the way he got Jose Butler out with a googly in Delhi. From the team point of view as well I am impressed by Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders and Gujarat Lions. Zaheer Khan is proving to be a good leader for the Delhi team. He is also proving that fast bowlers too can make for good captains. His field settings, bowling changes have been extremely clever. Someone had rightly summarised that like Shane Warne was for Australia, perhaps Zaheer will also go down as a captain that India could never have. KKR too is well led by Gautam Gambhir. The guy has always been a fierce competitor and hates to lose. But for me the real secret to KKR’s success is that it is full of players who are either trying to make a come into the Indian team or are wanting to break that barrier for the first time. Gambhir, Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla and Umesh Yadav are all trying to catch the attention of selectors whereas the likes of Surya Kumar Yadav are searching for their India debut. All this makes KKR a pack of hungry wolves. Gujarat Lions has done what Rising Pune Stars couldn’t which was to establish right combination from the word go. This and the fact that they were playing home games on good wicket of Rajkot helped them make the right noises this season. But still a lot needs to be done this season and I am hoping that the action will get better in the weeks to come and I shall relish that over a round of tea and pakoras once again. (The writer is former international cricketer. He is an expert in ABP News cricket panel)